Life events as correlates of problem behavior and mental health in a residential population of adults with developmental disabilities.

Very few existing empirical studies have explored the putative association between exposure to negative life events and psychological well-being in adults with developmental disabilities. In the present study, data on exposure to life events in the previous 12 months, adaptive behavior, problem behavior, and psychiatric problems were provided by care staff for 93 adults with developmental disabilities living in a residential hospital setting. Residents had typically been exposed to between three and four negative life events mainly relating to staffing and residence changes, conflict, family bereavements and relationships, and illness or injury. Those exposed to more recent life events were also rated as displaying more frequent aggressive/destructive behavior, and were at increased risk for affective/neurotic disorder. The need for replication of these data, especially using designs allowing causality to be inferred, is emphasized.

Anomalous experiences and the contents of persecutory delusions during acute psychotic episodes.

Criteria for judging the presence of persecutory delusions, and theoretical distinctions between different kinds of persecutory delusions, depend on the identification of the contents of such delusions. The first aim of this study was to assess whether contents can be assessed reliably. It has been suggested that anomalous experiences are involved in the formation and maintenance of delusions. The second aim of this study was to assess whether independent judges could agree when persecutory delusions depend on such experiences. Twenty-two inpatients suffering from acute psychotic episodes were recruited. Two independent raters categorized the contents of their delusions in terms of the timing, agent, intention, motivation, type, and severity of harm using information from a variety of sources. Agreement between the raters was adequate for all content areas and for judgments of associations with anomalous experiences. Using ideas of reference as evidence for the persecution was associated with believing that the harm is already very severe, that multiple types of harm are occurring, and that worse persecution is imminent. Theoretical explanations need to be elaborated to account for the variety of contents that can be identified reliably. Associations with anomalous experiences might guide such elaborations.